


The Death of Frank Castle

by yoncepadthai



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, i am trash, kastle trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 16:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6336781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoncepadthai/pseuds/yoncepadthai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in S2E13, Karen stands outside of the charred Castle home and considers if Frank is really dead to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Death of Frank Castle

She feels the same way she did when she stood on the docks watching the boat go up in flames, the same way she did in the woods when she heard the gunshot, how many times would the image and idea of Frank Castle die. Standing in front of his home or should she say, the burnt remains of it, Karen only hears one voice.

 

_I'm already dead._

 

Had he planned this before that moment in the woods? Had he always intended to kill what remained of Frank Castle? Maybe the explosion on the boat was to let the public believe he was dead. Maybe this explosion here in his house, this was his way to make himself believe the man he once was is dead.

 

Is this why he had never come home? Is this something he had planned from the very beginning? He would remember his family until the moment he found their killers. Then he could return home to destroy the last memories, the last evidence of their lives, and then what – fully embrace his role as the Punisher? 

 

A cold sinking feeling slipped into the pit of Karen's stomach. Maybe she was just a means to an end, he used her for information, used her for bait. Maybe he never wanted to see her again, maybe all their conversations their little sarcastic jokes meant nothing. Maybe she didn't really know him at all.

 

In Hell's Kitchen these days she always had more questions then answers. Especially when it came to Frank. To distract herself from more unpleasant thoughts, Karen pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and searched for something else to focus on.

 

Her eyes dart from the police cars, to the bomb experts sorting through the ashes, tape surrounding the house, and then her eyes fell upon a single metal mailbox. Somehow despite the explosion it had survived completely intact, still standing on the lawn, still bearing the name _CASTLE_ along it's side. Maybe a part of Frank could have survived this extermination too, maybe he hadn't lost everything that made him Frank Castle. Could she even separate the Punisher from the man she knew? A friend? Yes, Frank was her friend, but did he consider her his friend?

 

Again, running from thoughts she didn't know how to answer, Karen turned to watch the neighbors being interviewed. That's when it dawns on her. It's no coincidence the mailbox survived the explosion, the four walls of Frank's home acted as invisible lines in the sand. Nothing was burnt or damaged outside of them. The neighbors home's and families were safe and untouched. That was no accident or luck.

 

She couldn't help it as a slow smile spread across her face. That was just like Frank. He was those four walls, he'd rather blow himself up then hurt anyone else. Except of course, when it came to rapists and murderers, those people he'd gladly hurt.

 

Four walls. Four walls... She was reminded of the night the Blacksmith tried to shoot up her place and Frank had shielded her. His elbows had slammed on the floor as he locked his forearms around her face - just like two walls. There had been two more walls, as his legs had landed on either side of her own legs, his had pressed so firmly against her body it was almost like a tight hug that makes you feel safer somehow. Karen's mind started to drift away from analogy's of walls to the memory of physical sensations; the way it felt to be so close to Frank, the way he spread his hands over her forehead and pulled her hair out of her eyes, his breathe on her ear, the way she kept clinging to his arm tighter and tighter, the way the weight of his body felt on top of her. 

 

Fighting back a smile and blushing cheeks she didn't understand, she frowned and pulled another strand of hair back. Her mind wandered to the argument she had with Matt. The first real crack in their relationship was also the first time she acknowledge to herself that maybe she didn't consider the Punisher to be a bad guy. After that, maybe he was no worse then the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

 

She had seen them both last night, Daredevil and the Punisher. The man she knew as Frank had stood in the shadows on the roof, taking out the people who had killed that helpless old man on the bus. Did she admire him for that? Should she be ashamed of how glad it made her to see him? Why did he stop to look at her? She could have sworn for a moment the world and everything around held still as she looked up at him and looked down to her.

 

If Frank Castle was dead could she care about the Punisher the way she cared about Frank? Did that make her a fool or a bad person?

 

There was only one moment when Frank had held something back. One moment when he had kept something from her, she could see it in his eyes. Frank Castle may be dead to her and the rest of the world, maybe he even used her to get the answers for _himself_  but she had fought hard for _their_ answers. Frank be damned, she would find the truth on her own.

 

Walking back to her car each step filled her with more resolve and anger, Frank didn't get to keep the truth to himself and she wouldn't let him. She reached into her purse, grabbed her phone and furiously scrolled to the number she needed, as the phone rings she starts to unlock her car door, “Ellison? It's Karen. What do you know about Kandahar? I need everything you have on Kandahar.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I read some people saying that Frank blowing up his house was the end of any potential between him and Karen. I also read how Karen was just a detour on Frank's main mission to become the Punisher. While I completelyyy disagree with them, BOOOM CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, I decided to play along with those theories. Because, if Frank was really just using Karen, Karen would not stand for that. She literally talks about him every episode, champions him, trusts him - and if after all that she felt wronged by him, you know she wouldn't take that lying down.


End file.
